As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems are often equipped with various types of communication interfaces, which enable data and/or power delivery to and from the system. One example is the Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface. USB is an industry standard developed by the USB Implementers Forum (USB IF), which defines characteristics of the cables, connectors and communications protocols used in a bus for connection, communication, and power delivery between information handling systems and other electronic devices. USB is currently used in many different types of information handling systems (such as desktops, laptops, tablets, mobile phones, PDAs, etc.) and accessories (such as keyboards, mice, power supplies and chargers, spare battery packs, docking stations, external hard drives, audio headsets, speakers, cameras, etc.). USB interfaces may take various forms, including both wired and wireless interfaces, and enable information handling systems and accessories to communicate according to a variety of data communication standards, such as USB 1.0, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and USB 3.1, as well as any future revisions thereof.
For security purposes, some users (such as corporate and government entities) may wish to disable one or more USB ports on an information handling system to prevent information from being uploaded to/downloaded from the information handling system. For example, USB ports may be disabled on an information handling system to prevent a person from downloading sensitive or propriety information from the information handling system onto a USB storage device plugged into a USB connector. In another example, it may be desirable to disable USB ports on an information handling system to prevent an attached USB storage device from uploading malicious software to the system.
To prevent security breaches, a system administrator may disable all USB ports on an information handling system by modifying associated settings in the system's Basic Input/Output System (BIOS). Once USB ports are disabled in BIOS, the USB port settings cannot be changed manually by an unauthorized user or automatically by the system, until such settings are re-configured by the system administrator. One problem with this port disablement solution is that an information handling system cannot communicate with an attached peripheral device through a USB port when the USB ports on the system are disabled.